They’re already pre-boarding babies on my 6 a.m. flight home, so this will be brief:

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The Giants had to feel good about taking a series in Arizona, even if their ninth-inning comeback was trumped by the Diamondbacks’ celebration in the 10th. The D-Backs entered having lost just one of their previous 10 series. So the Giants accomplished something.

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Another good sign: Pablo Sandoval, after scoring the tying run on Pat Burrell’s sacrifice fly, smacked a few hundred high-fives in the dugout. They were emphatic ones, too.

I asked him afterward: Did he at least have the good sense to use his left hand?

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“No, both hands,” he said. “It’s OK. It’s feeling good.”

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Is something wrong with Andres Torres?

Not only did Aaron Rowand start against a right-hander (and go 0-for-5), but Torres, who entered on a double-switch, oddly remained stuck fast to first base after drawing a walk in the 10th. Rowand and Bill Hall both popped up. I thought it was a clear running situation against right-hander David Hernandez, especially with two outs. But Torres didn’t go.

Just something to keep an eye on…

–With second base up in the air, Manny Burriss did not distinguish himself tonight. He was 0 for 3 and struck out looking twice.

In the sixth, Burriss didn’t hear one of the strike calls and thought he walked on ball three. Unfortunately for him, he got nearly all the way to first base before he realized the situation. That’s a long walk of shame back to the plate. Then he struck out looking.

Burriss seemed distracted the rest of the game. In the seventh, he picked up Ian Kennedy’s ground ball and made a nonchalant, whippy, lazy throw to first base that was so offline that it nearly took Aubrey Huff’s arm off. Huff had to reach over and tag Kennedy. And Huff didn’t seem too happy as he snapped his around-the-horn throw back to Burriss.

Hall pinch-hit for Burriss in the eighth.

I asked Bochy: When Burriss makes a mistake, does he have trouble refocusing?

Bochy didn’t criticize Burriss, but he did seem a little troubled that Burriss had such a hard time seeing the ball.

It’s more than playing time at stake, too. The Giants will need a roster spot for Mike Fontenot in the near future, and if they want to get Darren Ford back in his previous role, they’ll need to figure out something there, too.

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Arizona Republic beat writer Nick Piecoro talked to Tim Lincecum about Trevor Bauer, the UCLA pitcher who went to the DBacks with the third overall pick. If turning 27 on Wednesday didn’t make Tim Lincecum feel old, how about kids coming out of school talking about idolizing him? Bauer said he began copying Lincecum’s mechanics while he was a freshman in high school. Good stuff. Link here.

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Three games at Chase Field. No home runs for the Giants. Not even one.

Andrew Baggarly

Andrew Baggarly has documented the most eventful era in San Francisco Giants baseball history, having covered the team since 2004 for th​ree major media outlets including the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune​. This is his 20th season as a baseball writer.
​Baggarly is the author of the bestselling book, A Band of Misfits: Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giants, and the newly published Giant Splash: Bondsian Blasts, World Series Parades and Other Thrilling Moments By the Bay. Baggarly’s other notable life accomplishments include running as the Bratwurst in the Milwaukee Sausage Race and becoming a three-time Jeopardy! champion.

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Another fine start by Vogelsong. How many innings can the Giants expect him to pitch this season?

muzak

There’s a good argument that Torres, not prepped for the start, coming in cold off the bench is more at risk for injury as to why he didn’t go. Again it points out some distance between Bochy and Torres which I’m calling the doghouse for Andres. But if there was anything wrong with Torres’ achilles they wouldn’t get him near the field. Bochy will be disappointed by Rowand enough times again, Torres will play. Torres’ UZR is undoubtedly still 1 of the best in the game and far distances Rowand. But he definitely looked disgruntled, in shots from the dugout, and on the field.

Spartacus38

When Font and Ford come off the DL who goes?

uncle joe mccarthy

hey baggs…can you call depo and find out how he feels about jonah hill portraying him?

and i do have a feeling that torres tweaked something…and they aint talking…rowand cannot hit righties

thank god that Song didnt get cained

and with their young hitting…and soon to be potent pitching….the snakes are gonna be scary talented next season

and baggs….why are you guys all pimping zito’s start????

he cant pitch in the majors anymore…and i just cant see the giants giving up one of their arms just to stick him in the pen

wilriv21

Burriss for Font
Ford remains in AAA?

John Millead

Huff has no right getting mad at errant throws and bad defense.

uncle joe mccarthy

report was that ford was lifted early

maybe he tweaked something

fontenot still needs to go back for more rehab….has 20 more days

burriss has to go back…not cuz of tonite, but because the team needs crawford’s d at ss

spliff(TONE)

Either there’s something wrong with Torres….or something wrong with Bochy. Torres should be an everyday player as long as he isn’t nursing an injury. Period.

ClutchUp

@ Andy Baggs…must be those babies boarding…

A whippy throw? I love the word picture…

Torres: a tad muscle bound from his constant – non-baseball-specific workouts whether off season or in season…Heavily-thighed players have quad – calf and heal issues (usually)

Some one say a “Heal Mary”…

ClutchUp

@Muzak

Good points about Torres not being prepped. Mavo will enjoy this…
What ever happened to the newer runner – taking a few jogs-sprints up and back….

Burriss: Good example of a (former) second tier guy having a chance to elevate his game and he can’t sustain it. Not saying he isnt good I am saying he is more comfortable in another role.

Still can see Ford sliding feet first into Suzuki. Apparently either way their are injuries lurking eveywhere for us.

Did Amy G get injured taking sliding lessons from Roberto Kelly?

ClutchUp

@ John Millead
Huff has no right getting mad at errant throws and bad defense.

Nice attempt to connect the dots regarding Huff’s occassional lapses but they are unrelated. Huffs problems stem from bad routes that JT Snow never had on pop ups or occassionaly thinking Freddy’s range was better than his…

Burriss was still sulking of his prior at bat. Catchers snap their throws back to their pitcher sometime for the same reason as Huff threw his back to Burriss.

Burriss goes back down…eventually when the Babe Font is better…

PBryan

Good series. This is how the Giants are going to need to play now that Posey and FSanchez are out – scratching out runs, taking walks, sacrifice bunts, double-steals, well-placed line drives, great D, not swinging wildly for the fences too often, as they used to do too much of when in a hitter’s park. Get em over, get em in. Huff seems to be calming down, going for the singles, often the other way. Keep it up and we could make another late-season run.

It dawned on me tonight why they might prefer Rowand at lead-off (irrespective of Torres’ health) – it’s his one-demensional approach at the plate: See ball, swing hard, hope to hit it, hope it falls in. When a runner is on I don’t see any attempt to move him over or avoid a DP – just the same old approach. I can’t even imagine him bunting. So, they’d rather have him lead off an inning than come up in a situation where moving a runner over is called for.

AndOnTheDrums…

Why are we even talking about rostering a player who can’t hit? And yes, I’m talking about Darren Ford.

Steven

To be fair, there were actually a lot of 400+ bombs that would have been HRs, but they were always to the deepest part of the yard.

TheCity

Steven – those are called ‘outs!’ 😉

LightsOut

Very effective pitching by Kennedy.

BigCat

Burriss must go down. He’s not as fast as Ford, can’t hit as well as Fontenot, and basically is a AAA player. And that walking to first SNAFU he committed tonight after two pitches were right down the middle was embarrassing. They mocked it on ESPN afterward, rightfully so.

Hitting for Whiteside ib the 7th seemed obvious. Tell me that wasn’t a case of not wanting to burn a catcher. That’s the ballgame there.

uncle joe mccarthy

Baggs – I went back and looked and that Burriss snafu was he thought it was ball 4 and it was called a strike not that it was only ball 3 like you suggested. What game were you watching?

uncle joe mccarthy

BigCat

Adios Bill Hall??

who, pray tell, will play second? fotenot is not an everyday player…and he still has to return for rehab starts….

amazing how you guys can praise manny one day…rip him the next

you people are schizophrenic

uncle joe mccarthy

and fake uncle joe

get your own frickin nick…you tool

GiantsFanFromNY

Disappointing night.

We didn’t exactly set the table. The Rowand and Burriss/Hall combo at the top of the order put up an 0 for 10.

And Crawford is starting to look overmatched. It doesn’t take major league scouts and pitchers long to figure someone out.

Hard to guess where the offense is going to come from. But Torres/Fontenot should be a better option at he top of the order in the not too distant future.

Mavo

Torres definitely tweaked his back on a double the other night .. when he slipped on the warning track as he retrieved the ball! That is the ONLY reason Rowand was in there against a right-hander tonight!

And Burris is showing just how scary he is on D! I was appalled at that throw he made tonight.. and the kid has no hands for routine balls hit right at him! Most players can field a hard hit grounder to there left or right.. but the REAL infielders also field the hard hit balls right at them.. and Manny has clanked too many of those already! He looks like he loses focus out there … too bad because he obviously has a lot of athletic skills.

tony

Livefree,,,Like him ,,hate him,,whatever,,but the line out to center in the 7th by Whiteside was one of the harder balls hit by the Giants all night.

Say What

I have a question. Why did Bochy leave Casilla in to face Upton when he has never managed to get him out? Bochy usually changes pitchers at the drop of a rosin bag ’cause he’s a “numbers guy”.

BDA

bagg’s note about the dbacks losing only the 2nd series in the last 11 is telling. giants went to their hr friendly park, with the mash unit+pablo, with all the doors,walls, and roof opened for max hr output, and not only took the series but damn near swept the series. that was a major statement. giants still have major problems to figure out but they are still players in the “get to the post season” game. i have come to the conclussion that venting here is theraputic for many – following this team requires therapy – but don’t forget to keep your eyes on the prize, that is what the giants are doing.

BDA

as per casilla staying in, uncle joe i believe said it best in bagg’s previous blog posting – with this offense you have to plan for extra innings and beyond and casilla is a pitcher that can get you more than 3 outs. sometimes you have to macro manage

In response to number 27, “macro managing” is a bad idea in a lively ballpark where your entire bullpen is available. They have not one, not two, but THREE righthanders in the bullpen that are superior to Casilla, yet Bochy chooses him to face the heart of the order. I can handle last year’s 99mph Casilla pitching to them, but does Bochy have a radar gun at his disposal? Does he know that Casilla is nowhere near that this year? Ramon Ramirez, Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson are all better bets with Upton and Young the next two hitters. I can understand saving Wilson for a possible save, but there’s no reason for Bochy not bringing in one of the other two. Upton has never had a hit off of Romo, and Young’s double last night was the first of his career against Sergio. The Giants had Sandoval, Huff and Ross due up in the eleventh, and the Dbacks had already used their best relievers. The Giants had all the advantages for the rest of the game, and Bochy still managed to screw it up by using a reliever who belongs in the back of the bullpen. People like to give him a pass because he won the World Series last year, but it was the team that won, they didn’t win because of his managerial brilliance. If Jose Guillen doesn’t get busted for an HGH shipment, he’s probably still playing for Bochy.

Harold

#19, I noticed that, too. Kind of a funny mistake to make when he then goes on to criticize the guy for lack of focus.

I’m not sure I buy the idea that Burriss was distracted by the mistake he actually did make, either. I think the simpler explanation is that he’s just not that good, not that unwisely pissing off an umpire messed with his game.

macro managing is esential on a 162 game season. yesterdays game wasn’t the 7th game of the world series

BDA

but i can see your point, there were guys in the bullpen that hadn’t worked for awhile.

rxmeister

it’s a divisional game right before a bunch of less important interleague games, BDA. You’re correct that it’s not a world series game, but it IS as important a game as the Giants will play for awhile. Bochy does this all too often. How many times have we seen the Giants lose the last game of a series when they were going for a sweep because he decided to rest players? Besides, Ramon Ramirez has been used less often than Casilla lately, so overusing the bullpen was not the problem here. Ramirez has been lights out against righties. The only justification for using Casilla is the possibility that they’re still discussing the Yorvit trade with Texas, and Texas wanted to see him in a pressurized situation. If this was a showcase, I doubt Texas liked what they saw.

We are in a world of hurt if we think that Fonenot or Ford will come in and pick up the slack. I saw Zito talking about how he only worries about the things he can control.No, he had not even thought about returning to the Giants in the bullpen.Zito, here is the deal.The only reason we would bring you back is because we only have 30 days to decide what to do with you.If you did not have a huge contract you would not be on this team.So grap a chair with the knowledge that your new nickname is Mop up Barry !

BDA

hey i’ll be the last to try to say i understand bochyisms but they work more than they fail. no doubt it was a frustrating loss and a winnable game. my big complaint has a lot less to do with bochy and casilla and more to do with about 4 or 5 really piss poor ab’s from the lower and upper part of the lineup.

The Wisdom Cow

It’s pretty easy to kick Bochy for leaving in Casilla. I am sure I was not the only one asking why Bochy was not removing him before the AB started, then wondering if the intentional walk was coming instead, then just turning the TV off in exasperation over as the HR took flight.

Of course, I come on line and see so many cheering that the team took 2 of 3. I appreciate that and all, but it doesn’t make the bone head move go away. Could something have been done to make it even more favorable for Upton? No.

Chikentorta

Can’t knock bochey on casilla. He’s been lights out since coming back and you can’t expect this bullpen to throw a shutout every night. Bochey macro manages because this is one of the worst giants offenses since the late 70’s. I would love to know their batting average with risp. But on top of that they can’t get productive outs (other than burrells last night) manny Burris is another version of Fred Lewis. Nice tools, not always home Mentally

MLBFAN36

Andres Torress is not hurt. If he was, he would have not stayed in the game. Bochey likes Rowand more then Torress but Rowand has not shown much this season so he plays Torress. Since Rowand had 2 hits the other night (against a lefty where he is hitting .389), that gave Bochey in his mind to start Rowand again as he completely disregards Rowands horrifc .189 batting average against right handed pitchers. Nothing like having a .189 average hitter leading off with no base stealing threat. Complete Joke. Hopefully when Belt comes back, Rowand will be gone.

The Wisdom Cow

Chickentorta, I just can’t get the manager line out of my head about “you do what you can to put your players in a position to succeed.” During the game, his job is to avoid those match ups favorable to the opposition when reasonable to do so. With a lead, I let Casilla see if he can get Upton out, but not tied in the bottom of extra innings with arms in the pen.

I kinda wonder if Bochy is becoming desensitised to fearing HRs. So few happen in Giant games, could he simply not think of them as likely, even in a match up like last nights in AZ? Upton did hit one last night, too, though.

The bridge
Water

BDA

WC – in hindsight every point of view makes sense. maybe casilla should walk kelly johnson the inning before because he has power? oh wait, casillas numbers are bad against upton, so that deserves the walk. but wait that means zito should be the number one starter against the twins because his numbers are good against them? the bottom line it isn’t smart to walk the winning run on base unless your name is brian wilson. there are 100 ways to disect that last inning – but odds say you are going to lose games like that every once in a while.

BDA

the pitch casilla made to upton wasn’t his best of the night, that was unfortunate – maybe he was trying to be careful? who knows

Joemets86

The picture of Dirty Sanchez and Torres spitting out seeds on the dugout steps says quite a bit when Sanchez looks like the happier one. Torres’ body language is just bad right now. Any chance he peaked last year? He is still better than Rowand leading off by a long shot, but it makes one wonder. Reyes might be untouchable now given his year, but that is part of the reason the Reyes rumors started in the first place. A legitimate leadoff man.

This team needs to have an offense that can generate 4 runs on a consistent basis. The rest will take care of itself.

Joemets86

Big start for Timmy tonight. A bad outing against a weak hitting A’s team and it might be time to skip a start.

Joemets86

Over/under…how many Giants fans out of the 33K in Oakland tonight? I say 20K.

The Wisdom Cow

BDA – my earlier post is what went through my head last night. I first thought “pull him,” and then wondered if he would intentionally walk Upton as a means of keeping Casilla in the game. My issue was not in hindsight.

I suppose I could have fired the computer back up and ranted right after it happened, but that would have come off worse. I was resisting the urge to be really petty – “How does Casilla for Torreabla sound now?” kind of crap, because I was angry. That, even though I don’t blame Casilla at all. It was not a bad pitch. But the numbers imply Upton sees him well, which makes any pitch potentially bad, and in that situation, the err falls on Bochy, IMO.

willieD

I wondered about hitting for whiteside too when I saw Burrell in the on deck, but…with two on right there, if Gibson walks Burrell you have to burn another hitter and basically waste Burrell, whom obivously was needed later.
Upton hit one to the live part of the yard, on a pitch casilla left a little up and that got too much of the plate. He had just struck out two guys in a row to end the previous inning. Bochy actually saved using Lopez that inning and left casilla in, and he did the job.
In such a down year for the offense, SF needs a healthy (mentally and physically) Torres. Like to see him drive up that OPS with more XBH to get nearer last year’s numbers, and of course his speed on the bases is a big weapon, either to have or to lose if he is not 100%.

Mike Souza

Something might be wrong with Torres, but if anybody was expecting him to produce as he did last season they were expecting too much. The league now has a book on him & he also staggered his own progress by adding bulk & trying to be the MLB HR champ. As far as Burriss goes the kid is another AAAA player. He can’t hit & his defense is bad most of the time so I don’t see him being on the team after Fontenot returns. I am so happy Pablo is back. This team is still winning, still fighting & still very exciting even with all the injuries. GO GIANTS!!!!

cutoffman

I counted at least 7-8 Giant hard hit line drives to the outfield (2 by Crawford) that were right at AZ outfielders. Sometimes they just don’t fall.
Oh, and Cody has a hole in his swing inside and above his hands. He has started to see frequent 2 strike fastballs aimed there and, if they’re in the right spot, they always get him out. Putz threw it there and got a huge K.
The Giants played a good three game series against a talented team on the road. Pablo’s back, averages are creeping up, pitching remains solid. Keep winning the series’, boys.

Keith W.

Zito gave up four runs, including a homer in A Ball yesterday. A Ball. Thanks to Vogelsong, at least this was a game.

JC

I am think a Burriss demotion to Triple-A to play down with his buddy Ford in AAA. Ford returning from his rehab assignment back to the big league team will depend on the status of Torres. He is playing, so maybe he is just banged up or something. Other than that, I like our chances at 2B with a platoon of Fontenot and Hall. One bats lefty and the other righty.

Burriss got exposed by a good pitcher and just lacks consistency. One game, he shows glimpses of what kind of good ballplayer he could be and then the next, he looks bad on both sides of the ball, not including his baserunning blunders that we have been accustomed to seeing. I am not bagging on him, because I like him on this team, but just critical of his flaws and that he lacks consistency.

Anyways, it is starting to make more sense to me that Burriss goes down before Crawford does on defense alone. Crawford made a nice swifty backhand in the deep 5,6 hole to throw out his nemesis Stephen Drew. He is still developing as a hitter and will go through ups and downs there, but his defense is constant and solid no matter what.

So as he is developing as a major league hitter, I see a platoon at SS as well with him and Tejada. Depending on the matchups.

Overall very productive series, even if this team can’t homer in one of the most homer friendly ballparks in the league.

The Rowand thing is just absurd. If Bochy is going to sneak him in there that’s one thing, but to lead him off is another. Don’t you think having your “leadoff” hitter go 0-5 in a 1 run game decided in the 10th inning may factor into the outcome??!!!! Just because he made one solid defensive relay yesterday does not mean he should hit leadoff, what a joke.

How are we supposed to take Bochy seriously about playing the best players when he is constantly running out Rowand and Tejada in the 1-2 spots. Doing that creates 4 blackholes in a row from 8,9,1,2 and if Crawford is hitting 7th can make it 5. I realize they’re not going to get DFA’d but there’s still no excuse for hitting them in the lineup where they keep hitting. We HAVE good LEADOFF hitter, USE HIM!

CB

@Clutchup Couldn’t agree more in regard to Burriss situation. He looks more comfortable in a different role than trying to be an everyday guy. We’ve seen it before with him and he isn’t getting any younger as he is 26 I think. So yeah, he lacks consistency and that is what is keeping him from being an everyday guy and I think that is what could possibly lead to him being demoted back down to AAA. Ford won’t be up on this team. It is just too crowded now on this roster with the additions of Hall and Crawford and Burriss still on here. Fontenot will come back, but the question is when. Burriss seems to be the odd man out because he is a 2B primarily. Fontenot is a 2B primarily and was playing SS by default due to injuries. But Crawford has shortstop locked defensively and Tejada can play there as well. So it is either a Burriss demotion or a Fontenot DFA. Either one, doesn’t affect me one bit. Because both r role players on this team.

CB

Other than that, could be critical on some of the decisions Bochy made throughout the game, but no need to since the game is lost and over with But we ended up tying it and forced extras, which just shows what kind of fight this team as. Still up 1 1/2 games up on the D-Backs and took 2 out of 3 on the road at hitter-friendly park. We held the D-Backs to 10 runs in 3 games, not bad. And we scored 13 runs in the 3 games as an offense. Thanks to Sandoval’s presence. I see our offense improving.

But I still think you can’t run out Burriss, Whiteside, Rowand out there in a streak of games because all are inconsistent at the plate. It is better to mix and match based on matchups but keep an everyday core going. If you do spot start Rowand, don’t insert him into the leadoff spot. He is terrible there in that spot this season. Torres is our leadoff hitter and he sets the tone because he works the count. And if he gets on base, he is a basestealing threat. Rowand is far from that.

I like how Huff has been propped up as some great guy & some clubouse linchpin, he has been hated on past teams & some of his action towards teammates makes me think he isn’t the most liked guy on this team. Schierholtz is known to not be “one of the guys” & it isn’t because he is some arrogant jerk, it is because a lot of the guys love to party & act like they are frat boys & Nate is a humble low key guy. The team chemistry thing is hilarious. They won because of pitching & timely hitting not players singing KOOM-BY-AH! The Latin players had great chemistry last season, but the rest of the tesm is clearly seperated into clicks just as all professional teams are.

Gigantes101

I must add, we are in 1st place and in a pennant race, even nearing the end of the 1st half of the season. There is know way we add Zito to the rotation. Guy is terrible. And he gave up 4 runs to AAA. I still think he could be utilized in long relief for when one of our starters have an off day, which is rare or pitch count is up there or in an extra innings game. Mota has been inconsistent as a middle/long reliever this season and he seems to be the odd man out, if and when Zito does get called back up to the team. Zito needs some more seasoning down there and gave up 4 runs to minor league ball hitters. That is terrible. If he was just still a prospect with what type of stuff he has and kind of pitcher he is now, he would be a journeyman in the minors and never get called up.

MLBFAN36

Keith W…..Zito pitched for AAA last night…Not single A

CB

It’s sad that we are paying him millions and millions of dollars and he is getting lit up by minor league hitters. Lol. I just laugh everytime Zito’s name is brought up. Cause he and his contract r jokes. Him and DeRosa should be on the team in mentor roles and get paid their million dollar salaries because they are without a doubt genuine and good character guys, who wark hard. Both r not helping us out on the field so let’s utilize them in a mentor/advisor role. Either way, you have to pay them. So use them in a role that can help the team. Burriss still is smiling and is a good guy on the bench and cheerleader.

But yea both r done, one to injuries, and the other to ineffectiveness and not meeting expectations as far as job description of Giants Starting Pitcher is.

bullship

Good points…I also questioned letting castilla face upton….there were other rested arms available. I have had my say on rowand and miggy, they should not be getting nearly the amount of abs they are getting…and not at those spots in the order. Remember this game the next time rowand gets a rbi single and everyone crows about how he is helping….miggy, rowand, and huff plus Whiteside, Crawford meand
The giants are rolling out the worst hitting team in baseball
By a long shot. Crawford and Whiteside play essential defensive positions….the others are just brutal. This is gonna kill the giants eventually….and the lack of HRs is getting to be really tiresome. Sabs GOTTA MAKE A MOVE….

CB

@Mike Souza How would you know what goes on in the Giants clubhouse? It’s all hearsay and bs at this point from your standpoint. But yeah, Huff doesn’t look like a humble guy inside a clubhouse. But again, it is all perception. Because I don’t know and you don’t know what kind of guys they are inside the clubhouse. Either way, I could care less because I like the team and their chemistry as far as on the field and that we r in 1st place, despite inconsistencies from certain players and injuries to some key guys. Our team is strong, has fight, and we look built for the long run. And if we get into the playoffs, I still think we are going to be dangerous with our pitching staff, being so called battle-tested from last season’s experience, and we thrive in close ball games.

Mike Souza

@CB, I know what goes on in the clubhouse because I had a very deep & lengthy conversation with 2 Giants players in Walnut Creek when I was doing a job & they happened to be eating at a deli there as I was grabbing lunch in January. Huff once called Baltimore a horse sh*it city & has had multiple teammates speak ill of him. I too can care less what they do in the clubhouse or off of the field, but I don’t want to hear the PR fluff that team chemistry is the reason this team is winning.

CB

@mike I can agree with you on the PR bs and team chemistry thing is the only reason the team is winning. But I think the reason we are winning is not only due to the great pitching and timely hitting concept, but it is changing the culture in the clubhouse that the Giants have built dating back to two seasons ago and starting to believe in homegrown players and the farm system. Bill Neukom and co. deserves all the credit for that. And I like how Bochy and his staff have changed the culture of this team. We got so used to seeing HR’s and the longball in the Jeff Kent-Barry Bonds Era. But yeah, it is a new Giants era that is built around pitching, some spirited players in the clubhouse and on the field in Pablo and Sanchez (before injury) and the team does have some good chemistry on the field. They play well together and the perception is they seem to be having each other’s back. I don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, but yeah.

ANd having a conversation with 2 players outside of the baseball domain doesn’t make you an expert on inside the clubhouse and determining chemistry, and even what they tell you is probably little to the truth and still won’t reveal to you that yeah, I know what goes inside and out the clubhouse. But I guess you are an expert on that by having one little conversation. But yeah the reason to are winning ways, is the changing of the culture in the clubhouse, a good mixture of players, and on the field contributions from pitching staff and hitters in a timely fashion. I am good friends with Tyson Ross and he doesn’t really reveal to me too much what goes on in the clubhouse because that is all business and sacred stuff. That stays within the guys on the team, coaching staff, etc. And I am a personal friend of his before he got drafted and became a major leaguer.

Gigantes101

@Mike Guess you are an expert, Mike, huh?! Oh well, Giants are in 1st place. Who cares what goes on inside and out the clubhouse. Never have, never well as a fan. I just put on my black and orange gear, cheer on the G-Men and talk trash to the opposing teams. Just like the chant in left field to the opposing left fielders. What’s the matter with Mike? He’s a BUM!

DesertGiantFan

Lets give some credit to Kennedy. Dude was tough. Taking 2 out of 3 on the road is good in my book. Crawford, although overmatched at times squared two balls up right at people. We need his athleticism and young energy in this lineup. Pablo looks great and adds alot to the mix on offense and defense and the purest sense of joy in playing the game. Vogey piched his butt off and kept us in the game. Regarding Burriss, he again has been presented with an opportunity to win the job and has failed. He is strictly a reserve player. Let’s see what Hall has left.

Gigantes101

@Mikesouza Nothing personal on that comment. Just saying who cares about what goes on in the clubhouse and you get the point on the chant. I love the Giants and am a big fan no matter what happens, what guys come and go. And that left field bleacher chant thing is an awesome experience and watching a ballgame there.

The Wisdom Cow

I would not mind the lack of HRs at all if the team added 30 points to their OBP.

Mike Souza

@CB & GIGANTES 101, Did I ever say I was an expert? I was stating an opinon & a factual event that happened. Never said I was an expert. But I guess only the chosen ones such as yourselves are entitled to have an opinion.

CB

@DesertGiantFan

Couldn’t agree more. Kennedy was tough last night and has been tough on us ever since he got to the D-Backs. He is a good pitcher, but I am glad our team fought hard, despite a solid and dominating performance by their starting pitcher and to come back and at least tie it and give Vogelsong a no decision, because he battled and pitched well too. He always does. Vogelsong is consistent as a starter. You know what you are going to get out of him, whether he has his best stuff or not. He is quality and you know you are going to get a quality start out of him. And that he will go to battle for you every 5th day. Love it. And Justin Upton is the lone d-back position player, along with Kennedy that I feel are all-stars. Chris young isn’t a bad player, but there are too many good OF’s in the league. Kemp of Dodgers, Holliday and Berkman of Cards, Braun of Brewers, Bruce of Reds, Beltran of Mets, etc.

CB

@mike that’s what it felt like to me that you were implying that you were an expert of this subject because you had a deep and lengthy conversation with 2 players. Agreed that it is a factual event, but still what they revealed to you still could be little and far from the actual truth. That is all I am bringing to the subject and argument, based on my personal friendship with a big leaguer from another team and another clubhouse. Either way, nothing personal and like I said, everyone is entitled to an opinion, including yours. And personally, I like reading your posts on previous blogs. Just on this subject, I have to disagree with you on.

DesertGiantFan

How about some props for Affeldt. He has been lights out lately and his curve ball creates “jimmy legs” on opposing batters.

Mike Souza

@Gigantes101, No offense taken. I was making that exact same chant last Saturday. Too bad we got smoked. The only reason I touched on this subject is because CSN BAY AREA had another fluff piece on chemistry as told by my favorite TV personality Amy G. HaHa. I love the team & root for every guy & am not judging anyone because lord knows I have more skeletons in my closet than a cemetery. 😉

CB

@MikeSouza Anyways, not trying to bag on you, so sorry if it came like that on the previous post. But yeah let’s get back to real baseball talk. What do you think the lineup is going to be today? And prediction of Timmy’s line? The A’s offense can be a perfect cure for Timmy to end his woes and recent pitching struggles.

Mike Souza

@CB, Well if I came off that way I apoligize. Lord knows if I was an expert on anything in life I would be a lot more rich. 😉

Gigantes101

@MikeSouza It’s all good. But yeah. I hate those stupid segments, as well. But yeah. I still think despite our great pitching, on the field chemistry, that we need to upgrade at catching and wherever else to improve the team. Who cares if it might affect the morale of some players, but we need get better and keep improving no matter how much adversity we have gone through this season. We still have a job to do and that is to get back to the playoffs and defend our title. Different team, different guys, same goal.

Mike Souza

@CB, I have never been a big fan of predicting lineups or bashing them when they are posted, but since you asked I would hope that Burrell is the DH & that the lineup is the one we used for the 1st game in Arizona. I feel Timmy will go 7 while giving up 3 earned. GO GIANTS!!!!!!

CB

True on that. None of us are experts on these things. But we love to comment and speculate and state our opinions on here. Whether we agree with people’s comments or not, that is just the nature of this. There is always going to be something we don’t agree with in a lineup, a decision, roster moves, etc. We are not experts and don’t get paid to do those jobs. But we are the fans and do have a bigger say in things. Because we pay money to go see our players, our team, the product put out there. And we let it be known by who we want to see and who is doing good and not by our chants, ovations, signs, etc.

Mike Souza

@Gigantes101, Comment75, That was beautifully written as if you took those thoghts right from my brain. Couldn’t agree more!

CB

Sounds good to me. Burrell is starting to come around. I just want a good defense behind Timmy. The A’s aren’t the high-octane offense team that we have been facing and they have low average hitters like us. So again, this series is going to be coming down to pitching. We have our ace or #1, #2, #3 going. Because #4 Bumgarner and #5 Vogelsong have been pitching like our 1,2 and aces this season despite their record, etc.

Gigantes101

@Mike atleast we think alike on some things, haha. But yeah. Ive been thinking that awhile. Whether some of these guys that we are highly critical of have a good night or not. On the overall picture, and to the point where we are in the season. I think we do need some upgrades at certain positions. My opinion will not change on that. Whether we stay in 1st place or not. We do have great pitching and our in a weak division, but it doesn’t hurt to go improve the team and get better. Sometimes you have to eat your pride, and do whats best for the team and not worry about hurting people’s feelings. Baseball is a game, but it’s a business in that sense.

Atlas

I didn’t question Casilla facing Upton. It was his inning, no reason to think Casilla isn’t capable of getting the out. Same thing coulda happened if Romo or anyone else had been brought in. Then what? This is the part of the season where you’re building and sustaining confidence in the players that you’re going to be depending on in many different scenarios over the rest of the season. Guarantee you Bochy will put him in that exact situation again the next time he has the opportunity.

Mike Souza

@CB, you are 100% correct sir. I love this blog, but many are quick to insult & call names just beacause somebody has a different OPINION & that is a shame. My friends who are fans can talk baseball for hours with me when we get together & never once do we come to blows. HaHa. Go figure. As my mom used to say, “When it comes to making this country the beautiful & unique place it is, it takes all types, all shades, all shapes & all kinds.” There is no such thing as a right opinion because we are all entitled to have our own….even if some opinions are more based in fact than others. 😉

patricio

my predictions regarding the lineup:
huff DH
pablo @1B
and miggy @ 3rd cause bochy will want him in the lineup to face his old team.
stewart gets a start for timmy’s sake
hall @ 2B-i think burriss is playing himself right off the roster
rowand or torres? i seriously hope super nadz finds his way back to the bench, and it is a RHP starting for the A’s.
nate in RF
crawford @ SS

in no particular order, cause i’ve stopped speculating as to how bochy puts it together…

Nate’sFanMom

RE: Manny Burriss

The jury is still out on him. IMO, he isn’t very confident right now. It seems as though he’s avoiding making mistakes rather than focusing on making good plays.

The ultility role may be where he needs to be for now. He probably gets optioned to AAA when Fonty’s ready to come off the DL.

RE Catching. I hope we get to see Hector Sanchez soon. You can never have too much depth at catching.

avwh

We’re not built for HRs, but we do need to “move the line” more – agree completely another 30 pts of OBP would do wonders for our offense (hat tip, WC).

However, it’s a little disconcerting that we hit NO HRs in that hitter’s paradise in 3 games – whereas the DBacks ONLY scored via the longball in game 3.

What a joy it was seeing Pablo pick it clean at 3B on a couple non-routine plays in that series – he changes the lineup dramatically with his presence/threat, and takes some pressure off the other guys in the middle.

Good to see Huff going opposite field more – I bet that’s a precursor to a much better OPS from him.

YogiBarrister

“Why are we even talking about rostering a player who can’t hit? And yes, I’m talking about Darren Ford.”

You’re a drummer, I’ll type slowly so that you can understand. Ford is on the roster because he’s the best baserunner, the best base stealer, and the best outfielder on the team. His OBP is .417, best among the position players. In other words, he’s the perfect guy for your bench. Now do you understand?

regarding opinions…

…If they are presented as opinions, there will be much less pushback. If they are presented pontifically, then expect people to conclude that the author feels he is an expert.

Just trying to help.

Hermann

Funny Rowands 0 for five gets mentioned, but not the fact that he hit the ball well the first two times with nothing to show.

The fact is that Rowand and Torres numbers are pretty similiar, the only reason for Torres to start is he earned it by playing better last year.

If by playing Rowand it sends a message to Torres, I would say thats a good thing. There is no drop off here.

NWBR

“Ford is on the roster because he’s the best baserunner, the best base stealer, and the best outfielder on the team.”

Would you really call him the best outfielder? Have we seen enough of him in the OF to make that call?

I suspect he could be pretty darn good, and I, for one, would like to see more of him. It’s hard, though, to give an unproven rook a lot of time when you’re a first place team.

BDA

ford sure seems like a good outfielder from the time he has been out there. i have to admit it is getting difficult reading here about how guys do or dont suck – they pretty much all suck about the same, i guess that is why the team continues to win, 1 or 2 good everyday players and 12 who are about the same. that isnt so bad i guess. of the 12 suckers i case can probably be made either way about thier preceived value. they are winning so that is better than the alternative

BDA

when you have 12 players who have about the same value, you can take alot of injuries and lineup changes – unfortunatly our really decent players on the offensive side are the ones who get injured – pablos back, feel better about that for sure

Hermann

BTW

I’m an expert on stuff like clubhouse chemistry because I once went to a shopping center and heard Jeff Kent was there about eight years ago

PBryan

Bring back Ford.

We absolutely need him in close games like last night, and like the G’s will have many more of this season.

Besides, Ford being on first with no outs in the late innings of a tight game – no single situation at a Giants game ups the buzz as much since a Bonds at-bat in 01-04. Good buzz = good entertainment = good wins = Go Giants.

BDA

and maybe the batters don’t want to heat it up. pablo starts out hot – boom injured. posey starts putting together a string of good games – boom injured, fsanchez is only consistent hitter for a long spell – boom injured. ball players are a superstitous breed.

ClutchUp

Agree with NWBR

Being called the best outfielder requires more than pure speed and a strong arm. It requires knowledge of each and every park’s outfield quirks.

At his current age he would have already been on the Brewers big club but we are fortunate to have him IMO.

He IS a game changer, but only if he learns (like Burriss) to keep most of his swings “out-of-the air”. He needs learned skills on how to become a pest. A club presumbably trying to repeat (Giants) won’t put him in their everyday starting lineup.

@ Herman: You are correct. Rowands first swing seemed to have carry on it until it faded. People are caught up on what salary the Giants “gave him” and all his pre-pitch – pre-at-bat – characteristics. That’s nothing…Mavo and I had to watch/enthralled by Matty Alous’ batters box routine…

Atlas

I’m feeling a little superstitious and worry that there’s danger hidden in this series against the A’s. Based on what started happening around this time last year, I’m going to hold off on going to any of the games in Oaktown (which sucks, because I really love going to games at AT&T and the Coliseum, and the weather is nice, and I have a three-day weekend.)

ClutchUp

Team Chemistry: In one chapter Tony Larussa said team chemistry “can be” like having an extra super star in the lineup (chapter five)

– Some clubs like the fighting A’s did not care. Baseball has changed. Players-front office and beat writers used to fly or take the train together (The Natural-Roy Hobbs-“Don’t I know you from somewhere”). Most of the off the field macinations use to take place in hotel bars, sometimes players drinking their entire dinner.

-Clubs have larger medical staffs now, and with the social media, 99% of the players are careful.

– Changes of sceneries sometimes afford players a second chance or their last chance.

– Huff is a good clubhouse guy NOW, and probably was a cancer on other clubs. He is a red-ass boy from Texas. I expect he had to learn “how to change”

I’ve run into many players out and about…I say thank you for this and that, never delving into specifics because they would either say something generetic. I doubt they would mention anything to me that was controversial.

ClutchUp

Burris “lost a pitch” during the earlier part of the count, thus he went to first on what he thought was ball four. He thought the earlier pitch that he “lost”…was a ball…Kerwin 🙁 – had called it a strike.

🙂 One of the announcers said: “They almost had to send a cab to go get him”…

Then Kerwin Danley called strike three looking on a pitch that was suspect. Danley may be on the bottom half of umpiring competence.

ClutchUp

@ uncle joe mccarthy says: June 17th, 2011 at 2:39 am 19..

You went easy on the tool that is using your name.

What logic is there for people using other peoples name?

ClutchUp

@ Wisdom

…Only if Bochy had strep throat maybe. I had no issues with leaving Casilla in there. He left a pitch out over the plate and Upton didnt miss it…sometime he and others pop that pitch up. Its baseball. It only counts as one loss. Gibson has the team playing in his image. I notice Gibson did not even go to home plate when one of his players clearly got hit in the forearm (message: deal with it)

@ Big Cat: Like UJMcCarthy said: Bill Hall is going nowhere.

ClutchUp

MLBFAN35

Belt may not return until September.

ClutchUp

*MLBFAN *36

Atlas

Casilla hadn’t given up a run since his first game of the season… Now has a total of 2 runs in 11 appearances.

AGiantsFan

Baggs, i think you missed a golden opportunity with the Burt Reynolds link

ClutchUp

@ CB says: June 17th, 2011 at 8:56 am 50..

Doubt Babe the Fontenot will be DFA’d. He has hit against more MLB pitchers than the others. Knows tendencies and his been UP in tough situations before.

He’s a Giant through 2011.

Channelclemente

Interesting chit-chat this morning. I thought Upton hit a good pitch, a long way. It’s what he does. Baltimore is a horse—- city, in my opinion. Some speculation about Huff rubbing people the wrong way and last years clubhouse ‘chemistry’. I think Uribe was the counterbalancing personality in last years clubhouse, reda– Uribe at your own risk. Whatever else might be going on, last year the vets all agreed that this might be many of them’s last chance to win. I suspect Burriss days be numbered if, when Bochy ‘talks’ with him today, he has any attitude remaining from last evening.

ClutchUp

@ Mike Souza says:
June 17th, 2011 at 9:08 am 55..

Okay. I agree to disagree. The 2010 Giants had “unique” chemistry. Freddy Sanchez would beg off the micriphone gig if he truly believed that the non white guys were off in various clicks. The latin thing you mentioned, goes without saying. They are part of the huge backbone of major league baseball and their outstanding pride originates from how many revere their fellow countrymen (Cepeda-Clemente-Marichal-Concepcion-and 100’s more). Some kid from Texas or Oaklahoma might not even know who Mickey Mantle was. AF-American players from Oaklands McCymonds high area – were in awe of Mays-JoshGibson-Satchel and again 100’s more) The SF East Bay produced Vada Pinson-Frank Robinson-Curt Flood-Bill Russell-Curt Roberts…

The 2010-11 Giants chemistry is apparent at least to ME. Put it this way: I’ve been on and coached many teams with BAD chemistry and I know what that looks like and the Giants do not have poor chemistry.

ClutchUp

MLBFAN36 ..Andres Torress is not hurt. If he was, he would have not stayed in the game. Bochey likes Rowand more then Torress…

Me thinks that “likes more than” is irrelevant when you’ve managed as many games as size 8 1/3rd.

Someone above caught it…Torres tweaked something the other night on the warning track…(his back) Torres has a myriad of nagging injuries. Me thinks his next off season work outs should include baseball specific drills. Throwing tires and blocks of cement over ones shoulder is impressive for those HugeMan events. Andres is/was a career MiLB journeyman who the Detroit Tigers wanted in their big league lineup but his then mental acumen was negative to making correct on the field decisions. Thank god the Giants brass figured out the issue. However he can still REVERT occassionally. I want him around for quite awhile.

For those of you that have a Money Ball the Movie connection…The Book was a good read. The movie is embarrassing. Jonah Hill portraying Paul DePodesta and many other odd portrayals. Since Ken Macha would not release his permission – the Philip Seymour Hoffman character “never states” who he is. Brad Pitt-Beane 🙂

The only bonified character is umpire Ed Montague.

ClutchUp

*** Ken Macha should be Art Howe

Foothills Ryan

@ 106 Channelclemente:

All you have to do is watch ‘The Wire’ to know what kind of city Baltimore is. Great documentary on the inner workings a major American city.

phil

Granted Rowand had a fine game on Wednesday, but was flat out awful last night, Still needs to be released with Tejada. I know it is not going to happen , just a wish list

Foothills Ryan

& Chanclemente: I don’t find the chit chat all that interesting. Just spec for specs sake.

Here is a pail of wisdom worthy of a Wisdom Cow’s udder:

You can’t win them all. Especially when your offense is the worst in the league. Be content your team is 1.5 games on top and still the defending world champs.

Foothills Ryan

“Three games at Chase Field. No home runs for the Giants. Not even one.” -AB

That’s solid prose Baggs. Reminiscent of Hemingway. Or Vonnegut.

And so it goes…

Channelclemente

My opinion of Baltimore is an honest reflection of the pimps down at the Waterfront, the hotel maid trying to sell me crack, and the sound of gunshots in the distance as the sun sets. Camden Yard, however, is a great ballpark, just in the wrong city. By many measures, it reminds me of AT&T.

Heck, everybody has an opinion, it’s just that and nothing more.

ClutchUp

@ phil

Rowand and Tejada have had and will continue to have the more than occasional (as you stated) awful game(s). Baseball and hitting the actual baseball is THE most difficult item to accomplish in all of the different professional sports. For example: 2 basketballs fit into the cylinder at the identical precise moment side my side. The Cup in golf is how many times bigger than the golf ball?

The sweat spot on a wood bat is about 2 1/2 inches. (About 3-3 1/2 with aluminum’s new bats BBCOR).
Home plate is roughly 7 baseballs wide and 9 baseballs up and down.

Rowand-Tejada and others facing Kennedy were in for a long night. Burrell “almost went down in flames” also. His SAC Fly Line drive doesn’t score players of Huffs speed. Pablo was motoring down the line. Good thing for US and Montero there was NOT a collision, because Pablo would have crashed into him, or put it this way, Pablo would have done whatever was necessary to score. The game almost did not go to extra innings.
Even Ross’s flaw mentioned here by another poster is league wide known about. Heck, it took Renteria last yr to notify Cody that he was not getting his front foot down quick enough. Ross is a player who if he doesn’t start 98% of the games would go into an even bigger hitting slump. He’ll go 0-5/1-5/3-4/2-3 but one never knows on a regular basis what Ross will actually do at the plate.

Players who we/you deem awful, go a couple of more games and then BAM, they do something to help this particular team win. We are a heavily flawed team that is going to stay Flawed all season with their 13 position players and daily rotational 8 starters chosen. We apparently despise Bochy’s methods = however the players play extremely hard for HIM and each OTHER. When Rowand and Tejada have “awful” games – someone else takes up the slack; When those other players do not = we lose. When the other players have awful games = Rowand-Tejada-Huff-Burrell = have good games and we win by the wide margin of one run.

DFA is a foreign word to the Giants Organization.
Ishikawa = One time.

27 outs minimum.

Fit Panda

All I know is that when the shortstop unproductively fouled out to the catcher with nobody out and runners on first and second in a key moment of the game, nobody here said squat about it.

Had the shortstop in that situation been Tejada instead of Crawford, the Internet would have imploded with the onslaught of traffic from folks who would have been demanding his release and Bochy’s head for playing him.

chikentorta

the giants aren’t DFA ing anyone. When fontenot comes back my guess is burris goes down. ford probably goes back to triple a after his rehab stint and the giants ride out another month with this anemic lineup and do some minor tinkering at the trade deadline. with a team payroll of $120 mil and they just gave hall about $250K (prorated) my guess is they add some minor parts and hope they get lucky. I don’t think the giants had any idea burrell would hit 18 hrs and be their starter in LF when they picked him up last year. Losing posey and sanchez to an already pathetic offense certainly didn’t help, but even with those guys in the lineup this team still scores the same amount of runs per game. they score what is capable of happening when you do a double steal and get an error from the catcher or walk and move over to third with less than one out, can’t get a productive out and score on a wild pitch. like i said, even with posey and sanchez, this is the 2011 sf giants. great pitching, grit, choke artists when having the opprotunity to move guys over or in, but somehow find a way to win

Atlas

Fit Panda #116

Yep, pretty much. Double standards and hindsight abound.

livefree

Hey, Panda, that reaction seems reasonable to me. On one hand, you Tejada being paid $6 million and so far horrible at all aspects of the game for most of the season. He has no upside, so there is no patience. Crawford has been a miserable hitter lately, but has upside, is a rookie, and is going to be the beneficiary of a lot more patience, at least for now. Nothing terrible or unusual going on here … the homegrown rookie gets the benefit of fans’ doubts; failing overpaid free agents (especially one that most fans didn’t want to start with) don’t.

This is like wondering why there are more blog comments when the Giants lose. It’s human nature.

Mike Souza

Every city has it’s bad side & S.F. has some hoods too. The uppity types like to deny it though. We can all agree to disagree on chemistry & it’s importance to impacting the performance on the field, but I am grateful that there are no major douche bags on the GIANTS & I am thankful for that. Out of all the pleyers I have met or talked to in my life the most arrogant jerk out of them all was Stan Javier. Go figure! HaHa.

Dinero

Fit Panda #116 fantastic point.

ClutchUp

@ Fit Panda says:
June 17th, 2011 at 12:52 pm 114-ish.

Thank you. Great point. I applaud you. Fanatics here, I won’t say fans because you are a real fan and they are either RotoLeague gurus (not you guru) or after the fact fans. IE They watch the game turn into a loss, then they try to state what should have happened. Like that flight plan that went bad for JFK Jr. There is always another side to everything and as long as the regulars on here post their input…you and I will post ours as its all good 🙂

Their is always “Something” else about a player (Tejada-Huff-Renteria-Burrell-Nate-Rowand) that “fans” also do not like as they are failing.

– Example: Tejada’s facial theatrics-Huffs grimicing and not running the ball out-Huffs lack of range to his right and down the lineups on popups-Renteria’s big contract and injuries-Nate-not being an everyday hitter-Rowand looks stupid at swinging at the slider in the dirt)

– The box score shows the same thing without the personal attacts, but the social butter fly world we live in gives us the license to fume even more while we watch the games unfold.

93 and 69 = 162
92 and 70 = 162

chikentorta

i personally don’t think crawford is the answer right now at ss. his defense is above average but his no bat kills this team. what was their intention with tejada anyways. sign him to one year and then bring crawford up to be the ss of the future. he came straight from double a and is a career .270 minor league. He hit well in a brief stint in san jose last year, then struggled in richmond (double a) this year before they brought him up. i think considering his very little experience, he has performed remarkably this year. like i said last night on this site. i’d like to see the giants go after jj hardy. i always thought he would be a good fit for this team and he’s tearing the cover off the ball right now. on torres, he’s 33 and been playing his hard nosed ball since 1998 in the pros. he’s going to get hurt. i don’t think we should expect much from him at the plate, but his defense is great and he does draw walks. last year was the only time he’s ever put up any resemblence of major league numbers. he’s a huge reason we won last year. if you look at every position on this team other than panda and posey they can replace the whole lineup

ClutchUp

@ Mike Souza

You too 🙂

I met Stan Javier and you are correct. His dad Julian Javier was a prince of a man. (Like Marichal)

Stan hit the very first interleague HR as a Giant vs….Texas.

My very worst arrogant experience was sitting next to Goose Gossage in 1989 at Fridays in San Mateo. He was drinking several adult beverages while attacking a plate of ribs. His hands were covered with sauce as well as his mustache. One of us said: Hello and well….he was not very happy so we soldiered on to another part of the restaurant…

Your points are probably correct. The league will so note how to pitch Crawford but right now his swings dont reflect that. Any hitter can only control putting a good swing on a good pitch and try to hit the ball hard somewhere. So far Brandon has not looked any more overmatched than his teammates.

Posey-Sandoval and Freddy Sanchez are probably the only Giants injured or otherwise who would start for any other team.

That said, count our current status. Wonder how we will act on this board if and when the Giants fall 3-6 games back down the stretch.

IMO that tough stretch is still to come in the future (July-August)

Mavo

Clutchup – That was Jesus Alou, not Mateo, who had all the pre-at bat histrionics … mainly with his neck!! lol

chikentorta

nice site you put up clutchup. i think the giants are going to try and hang tough as long as they can. weren’t they about 6 out in august last year, granted that offense was producing much better than this one. aside from a phillies series at home and a four game stretch to atl the month of august is a cake walk and we get revenge on the marlins that month as well. this pitching staff is incredible and other than zito getting hurt (which we should thank our lucky stars because we discovered vgelsong) the staff has stayed healthy for two straight years. it seems like the offense always sputters no matter which players are on the field and someone always carries the load during that time. experience of a stretch drive is a big plus on the giants side i just don’t see how they get a baseruner against the phils in a post seasson with this lineup. sabean will come through again, bochey will manage his ass off and they will get their contracts extended again. that’s my prediction.

ClutchUp

Mavo:

Thanks. Did Jesus throw the bat in the air also….or something to that effect?

I also think Fuentes had a bat “routine” ?

ClutchUp

@ chikentorta

Right there with you. They are almost to exhausting to post about. No matter what we do/say here…its going to be a wild, exhilerating ride with HUGE peaks and valleys.

That is the only guarantee: Many highs and Many lows.

Channelclemente

Clutch, sorry, but I had to laugh. “Did Jesus throw the bat…” . From the lost gospels, he was a ballplayer first.

avwh

“All I know is that when the shortstop unproductively fouled out to the catcher with nobody out and runners on first and second in a key moment of the game, nobody here said squat about it.”

Fit Panda:
are you really equating a rookie making MLB minimum with a former MVP still making $6.5M just b/c they both sorta, kinda play the same position (we all know Tejada is really only competent defensively now at 3B)?

I think it’s totally fair to cut the rookie some slack, but be more demanding about a vet making, oh say, 20x more who’s also a former MVP.

SFGiants25

Will be at the park tonight with my Timmy jersey on. I’m guessing most of the colisuem will be filled with Giant fans. Go Giants!

Dinero

Crawford is the answer right now at SS IMO.
First of all, his defense is WAY above average, as good as it gets.

Sure, he’s struggling a bit offensively, but he put some good swings on the ball last night. He could have just as easily had a couple of hits. I agree that he does not look overmatched out there, he’s just not quite getting the results (yet).

But his defensive skill keeps runs off the board – period. Besides, a team with pitching like ours needs to be strong defensively up the middle (C, 2B, SS, CF). Injuries have hurt us at a couple of those positions – we just can’t afford a sub-par defensive SS for marginally (if at all) better offense.

Mavo

Clutchup – YES he used to toss the bat up in the air after each pitch he took! I’d say after Craig Counsell he had the most weird batting stance/habits of anyone I ever saw! But Craig Counsell.. the way he pulled the bat so high and behind his head? It is a wonder he could hit anything at all! I once chatted with him in Fresno a couple years ago. We were down there to watch the Grizzlies play, as we were friends with one of the players, and Craig was there doing a rehab stint with the DBacks AAA team. After the game he was staying in the same hotel as us and his teammates … right by the ballpark. Being the ML player he was in the bar that night buying all his minor league teammates a beer and I asked him how on earth he came up with that style of hitting. He said he always did it that way since LL and when coaches tried to change it .. it screwed up his hitting! Craig was a really nice guy and even bought us a round as we chatted! He finally gave up the exaggerated batting stance a few years ago when his advancing age kept him from being able to react fast enough with the bat so high and behind him!

ClutchUp

@ Channelclemente Clutch, sorry, but I had to laugh. “Did Jesus throw the bat…” . From the lost gospels, he was a ballplayer first.

As I am laughing now. Jesus Alou had one of those “gizmos” over the “e” in his name so I recall… (or one of the letters in his first name”

“HeyZuse” as he was called had many older Giant fans and younger Giant fans imitating his “neck roll”…

Btw: I wonder which of the Apostles hit for average and which hit the ball out of the park …errr…back then….I think the ball carried well in those times. I guess Judas must have been traded to many different teams based on his track record 🙂

ClutchUp

Mavo:
Thanks. Yes Council was a scrapper who had some big hits against us as I recall when he was a Snake.

In some ways his “game” reminds me of Fontenot and vice versa.

In my other DREAMS – I wonder what a David Ekstein would have managed to bring to this current Giant team…

uncle joe mccarthy

ClutchUp

howe’s name is in the credits

i think its depo who didnt allow himself to be portrayed in the movie…which is why hill is portraying a fictional, idiot savant character

from the looks of the trailer, seems like the suits got involved with the making of the movie, and have turned it into the stat geek version of major league

Johnfromnj

To balance out the Stan Javier stories a bit:

When my oldest son was younger we would always let him sneak down and watch the games as close to the field as he could get.

On one night at Three Rivers in Pittsburgh he made it to the seat right next to the Giants on deck circle to watch the last two innings of a game that the Giants were trailing and came back to win. After the last out I walked down to him as Javier was pulling off his batting gloves to give him. I said thanks to Stan and he told me that my son deserved them because he was so encouraging to all the on-deck hitters.

@johnfromnj, Good to know he wasn’t a jerk all the time & maybe I caught him on a bad day back in 1989….or maybe it was because I was the only GIANTS fan in a family of A’s fans & he purposely hated me. HaHaHa. The dumbest thing I remember seeing was all those A’s/GIANTS hats the bandwaggoners & casual fans wore. Maybe it was because I was 100% a GIANTS fan but to wear a hat with both teams logos on it when they are playing each other just seems douchey & dumb to me.

uncle joe mccarthy

ClutchUp

hoffman is one of the greatest actors of our time…howe should be honored to have him portraying him

i just hope that the beane relationship with his managers is portrayed correctly

one of beane’s greatest failings, is his belief that a good on field manager is an unnecessary part of the game…and it cost the a’s a trip to the ws in 02…and has hurt the team since (geren was never a big league manager)

depo was originally supposed to be portrayed by an actor/comic who looks very much like him…the jonah hill casting is how hollywood gives somebody the finger

Channelclemente

Judas was a Dodger, for sure. I knew Chavez Ravine was the hell mouth, no that’s Buffy, now I’m really confused.

Chris Boyd

Either Burris or Ford will stay up to pinch run for Burrell after he walks. All you had to do was watch’s Pat’s triple to know we need a spare set of wheels on the roster for late innings.

My bet, is the preference would be to keep Ford. He is a more accomplished base runner and a plus defender in the outfield and has more pop in his bat. I know he has not had any extra base hits either, but he does seem to hit the ball harder.

Hall’s aquisition seems to diminsh the need for Burris if you’re going to keep Tejada. And that’s really the choice here. Manny or Miggy when Fontenot comes back. I have my preference; but, regardless of what it is, I do not think Sabean will public admit to his $6.5M mistake by keeping a hitter on the big club without an extra base hit in 63 ABs.

When Fontenot returns, Burris should go down, with Ford hopefully returning about the same time.

That means to me:

Whiteside
Stewart

Pablo
Huff
Hall
Crawford
Tejada
Fontenot

Schierholtz
Ross
Torres
Burrell
Rowand

I think this would allow Bochy to do some regularish type platooning with Fontenot and Hall at 2B, Tejada and Crawford at SS and get Huff some time off here and there by moving the Panda to first and letting either Fontenot or Tejada play 3B depending on matchups.

This gives the limits then on who, if anybody goes when Ford/Belt is healthy. And that is a catch 22…. Burrell finally has hit a few balls hard and might be coming around. Until the last week I would have DFA’ed him after his two month HR drought. Some member rightly pointed out thou, that without Pat’s eyes getting the late inning walk, Burris or Ford has no one to run for. Giants management will not flush $20M and cut ties with Rowand, although he could ‘pull a groin’. Ross, Torres and Schierholtz are the best defensive outfield and aren’t going anywhere.

To me, I would still be looking at a trade for JJ Hardy with Baltimore so we can cut ties with Tejada. He could team up with Hall as an old double play combo and the defense would be very solid. Hardy’s righthanded and you could justify keeping Crawford up as the backup SS; but, I would rather get him more ABs in Fresno. Crawford looks like Posey did in late ’09 when he first got called up. You can tell it’s in there, but he needs some more work to iron out his swing. I think Sabean likes to call that “seasoning”. Fontenot provides insurance and rotates between the three IF positions as needed. Hardy doesn’t have to block Crawford long term either being that he’s a free agent at year end and if Brandon is hitting the cover off the ball in Fresno, you can just let Hardy walk and take the draft pick.

That would clear a roster spot for Belt / Ford, but at this point, I don’t see Belt being able to earn the everyday job and sentence Huff to the OF. And if he did, then we have another $12M bench player. I don’t think I would start Huff over Ross or Schierholtz at this point in an OF position. In my opinion, Belts wrist pretty much limits him to a September call up or injury fill in. But with Burriss, Huff, Hall, Ford all being able to fill in and 5 outfielders on the team I wouldn’t mess with it. I think we let Brandon get healthy and tear the cover off the ball in Fresno, and be ready to replace Burrell or Ross next year. Most likely Burrell. It’s funny, I didn’t see a place for Cody on the roster next year a month ago; but, I might depending on how everything shakes out.

I would still try to get a catcher, but after reading the notes from the scribes on the approaches for Torrealba, I am convinced more than ever that no team will make a fair value trade for such a glaring need for the defending World Series champs. I will bet you money though we get Pudge on waivers after the deadline. You watch… Washington will want to unload his salary and we will be claiming damn near every big league backstop. Could Pudge be this year’s Cody Ross??? Ironically, Barajas could also be had from the Dodgers this way too if the McCourts mess means the Dodgers need to free up a little over a million in payroll. If Furcal ever got healthy enough I wonder if Sabean would think about placing a claim on him too? The mind boggles….

So to me, Brian’s to do list….

Sign Lopez to 2 or 3 years
Sign Timmy to 4 or 5 years
Trade J. Sanchez for value, not for need
Get JJ Hardy from Baltimore if they aren’t fleecing us.
Watch the waiver wire for a catcher.

These five little things would make this year and next so much better.

You sounded like you “expect” a bad outing from Timmy tonight against the “light hitting” A’s (they scored 8 runs last night). I am sure glad that they didn’t skip a start for Timmy on Sept. 1, 2010, following his now well-documented 5 August losses. We all know what happened on and after Sept. 1.

SmeezyFBaby

Here is where Ford comes in…pinch running for Torres last night. A little Vrrrrooooom and who knows what would’ve happened. Guaranteed he wouldn’t just sit on first base, that’s for sure.

Channelclemente

I wonder if Chris Boyd isn’t right about Rodrequiz. If he goes on waivers, I also wonder who might claim him to keep him off the Giant’s roster. For instance Lucvoy went down this week for the Brewers.

oil can boyd

billy beane is the most overrated executive in baseball-
he has given away Ethier, Cargo, Nelson Cruz (great outfield) with nothing to show in return. Other hitters who have passed through Oakland who are better than any current As starters: Swisher, Pena, Bautista, Wallace, and several others.
Beane is teflon when people assess the As sad state- he is more responsible than anyone else.

Channelclemente

Lincecum has stunk it up for 4/5 last starts. It’s at least a coin flip what he does tonight. Bochy will have a quick hook, I would guess.

When you are starting a new organization you definitely want to occur up with a catchy company name that will be distinctive from others out there. An appealing enterprise title will do far more than just make your organization stand out from other people.